Shock has caused the wrong blood transfusion recently done in 62 -year -old patient in Tzanioby an assistant nurse. The incident, which was subject to public complaint, brings to the forefront of Tragic under -staffing of the National Health System (NHS) and their Human dangers it entails.
The president of EINAP, George Siderisin his article entitled ‘Let’s remember Libby Zion’analyzes with evidence and anger the conditions that led to the incident and openly blames the state, administration and the Ministry of Health for the Tragic deficiencies in staff and the dangerous exhaustion of workers.
“DE Assistant Nurse for 45 patients and ranch – this is not health »
According to what the president of EINAP writes, the nurse who made the fatal mistake It belongs to a TAB of DE (Two -year education)and worked 16 hours in a 24 -hourtrampling on every labor regulation, but – mainly – every scientific protocol.
“In the name of ‘to get the shift out’, we have reached the point of working two nurses for 45 patients and 10-15 ranches. Staff changes sections as if they are pawns, owes thousands of remains and licenses. The shifts are illegal, continuous, fading, ”writes G. Sideris.
The Libby Zion case and the tragic similarities
In his article, the president of EINAP reminds him of Case of 18 -year -old Libby Zionwho died in 1984 in a New York hospital under the supervision of exhausted specialist doctors who were working 30 hours continuously without supervision. The case then led to radical changes In the American system of education and on -call.
“40 years later, and while the global medical community was taught by Zion’s tragedy, we make exactly the same mistakes in Greece. Not only do we not secure human hours, but the repo has become luxury and the licenses … ghost, “he says.
“Responsibility is not of the worker but of the system”
Sideris also complains that the administration of the January attempted to “load” all the responsibility to the particular nurse, bypassing it generalized staffing crisis and illegal practices applied daily to public hospitals.
“The government and administrations are engaged in anthropomorphism. They are attempting a murder of a colleague’s character, instead of taking responsibility for the chaos, “he says.
NSS in collapse: dramatic shortcomings and indifferent political leadership
The situation described by EINAP is not isolated but representative of everyday life in the Basin Hospitals – and not only. The gaps in organic positionsthe lack of recruitmentand the Tolerance to labor rights violations have turned the health supply to Struggle for survival for workers and patients.
“When doctors and nurses work humanly, the patient is also protected. When they are exhausted, everyone is in danger, ”the EINAP president notes.
In detail the article
An assistant nurse in the Tzanio Hospital made the wrong blood transfusion to a 62 -year -old patient fighting to keep life in the ICU.
Based on the data that saw the light of publicity, it was revealed that the nurse was a two-year education (DE)- which means that due to under-staffing any scientific given. In the name of the lack of staff, the “shift” in Tzanio, it also emerged that the nurse worked- by derogation of law and common sense- 16 hours within a 24-hour period.
The situation everywhere in the Basin hospitals. Hundreds of empty organic nursing staff positions. The recruitments that are made when and if they do are not enough to fill the huge gaps. Consolidated illegal and endless shifts, afternoon – morning, morning – night. Two nurses are hospitalized 45 patients and 10-15 ranch in the corridors. The very few nurses themselves work in 2 and 3 different sections. They owe thousands of days off and permission
The government, the Ministry of Health and the administration of the Hospital is a “anthropomorphism” operation, a miserable murder effort of the colleague, who is presented as unconscious, while the mistake is attempted to be loaded only to himself. The hospital administration had the audacity to even release a press release, informing that he had made a report to the prosecutor’s office. New stations.
Nearly 40 years ago, on March 4, 1984, 18 -year -old student Libby Zion was admitted to New York Hospital with fever and confusion. It is not known for its history (taking the antidepressant drug phenelzine -not reversible non -selective monoamineoxidase inhibitor), on -call specialist doctors administered Painkille meperidine (pethidine, synthetic).
The interaction of the two drugs led the patient to a serotonin syndrome, her condition deteriorated rapidly, resulting in a cardiopulmonary arrest and ending the next day.
Her father, Sidney Zion, accused the hospital of negligence, focusing on excessive fatigue of specialist doctors and the lack of adequate supervision. The case caused a wide public outcry and led to legal disputes that proved that the case specialists were working 30 hours in a row (!!!) and even without the presence of a qualified doctor.
The case led to the establishment of the Bell Committee, which proposed significant changes in the training of doctors (and adopted by the New York State in 1989), such as a maximum continuous work of 24 hours and a compulsory presence of a doctor’s curator at all times. This is how the “Repo” were established.
40 years later and when all our governments are back in since they not only do not apply the constant demand of the health movement for human working hours, but on the pretext of “emergency” repo, human shifts, licenses become an unknown word.
Even these minimal security valves provided by applicable law are systematically violated. Hundreds of specialists are on call without a qualified colleague because there is simply no such thing, hundreds of nurses are doing other duties because there are simply no nurses who should take over.
So let’s think about it better next time:
Governments that want to implement the unacceptable evaluation aimed at abolishing permanence, redundancies, closure of units, structures, unacceptable working hours of our lives and predicts 70 hours a week of work
The Ministry and the administrations of hospitals that give successive “hunters” and forcing staff to illegal shifts.
Directors of Services and Clinics refusing to grant a day and leave.
The colleagues who are scared or not speak because they think that over -underwriting offer more to their patients
Once again it turns out that the demands of health and patients should be common. When doctors work in human rhythms, the patient is protected from a brutal and therefore dangerous physician, when there are several nurses the patient will have a decent and lower risk of hospitalization. Libby Zion was lost. Let’s not forget it.
PS: For history, specialist New York Hospital doctors in history of 1984 were free from the charges of criminal negligence. What about the January nurse?